Improvement in ornamenting baked earthenwares



UNITED STATES PATENT Darren.

RALPH B. BEECH, OF KENSINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN ORNAMENTING BAKED EARTHENWARES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 8140, dated June 3,1851.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH B. BEECH, of

the district of Kensington, in the county of Stoneware, Delftware, Chinaand Baked Wares generally; and I do hereby declare that the following'isa full, true, and exact description of the said improvement.

It is well known that the surface of china and baked wares of all kindshas been for a long time colored and painted with various designs,ornamented by gilding or silvering, and covered with a brilliant andglossy surface.

The several modes hitherto employed for effecting this purpose may bethus briefly described: I

First. Drawings and engravings are placed on china by painting orprinting them with a metallic oxide in solution on the ware while in thebiscuit or unglazed state. A flux or vitrefiable substance in the formof a thin solution is then applied over the entire surface of the ware.The ware is then placed in the glazingfurnace and exposed to the intenseheat of the glazingfurnace, which varies from 1,500 to 1,900 accordingtothe fusible nature of the flux employed. The flux is fused by this heatand forms the glaze or thin coating of glass which covers the outside ofmost of our chinaware, and at the same time fixes the colors previouslypainted on the china and develops their brillia-ncy.

Second. Drawings and paintings in variegated colors upon china andporcelain ware have been also effected by mixing metallic oxide of thevarious hues desired with some finelyground fluxing-matters beforeapplying them to the ware. These mixtures are then applied with thebrush, making any desired sketches, and the material, when thus paintedupon, is exposed toa high heat in an enameliug-furnace until the colorsare fixed by the fusion of the fluxing matter. This process is calledpainting in enamelcolors.

Thirdly. The surface of china has been or namented with gilding orsilvering by either in the proper state with some flux and then appliedas the enamel coloring was described to be done.

Hitherto no one has ever employed colors mixed with varnish so as toproduce, when applied to and combined with baked ware in thebiscuitstate, abrilliant polished surface of any desired variety ofcolor and without the aid of fluxes or glazing. Neither has anyone'heretofore applied to this kind of ware gold and silver ornamentin gby means of varnishes and cements, or without the aid of fluxes andglazing. N 0 one has heretofore applied to or inlaid upon the surface ofchina and baked wares in any manner or by anyprocess pearls, shells, orgems for ornamentin g such baked-ware surfaces. Neither has earthenwareor baked ware of any kind, when in combination and ornamented by aprocess similar to mine, beenemployed in the manufacture of such fancyarticles as are now usually made of pa-pier-mach, iron, or wood, asdesk-tops, table-tops, trays, bookcovers, 860.

The first part of my improvement may bedistinguished from all previousprocesses known in this branch of art in this, that in all cases wherecoloring or gildin g by the glazing or enameling process was done uponsuch wares and a brilliant surface was imparted thereto these resultswere effected by means of the glazing or enameling process-that is, bythe fusion of a flux at a high temperaturewhile by my improvement theseresults are obtained by the employment of colors prepared with varnishand applied to the ware in the biscuit state and carefully dried on, andall glazing, fluxes, and exposure to high temperatures are dispensedwith.

The advantages resulting from this part of my improvement are,first,that by the absence of the high heat a variety of cheap and beantifulcolors may be employed in my process which were too volatile to be usedwith the high heat of the old process; second, the metallic oxides andother impurities of inferior class will not at the low temperaturerequired by my process affect the coloring-matter employed, whereas inthe old process common clays could not be used with fine colors; hence abrilliant and highly-colored surface may by myimprovement be given towares made f the commonest and cheapest clay thirdly, my processdispenses with the trouble and expense of reheat f2 5.14MB

ing and glazing, and gives such a brilliant and variegated surface ascould not be obtained by any previous process.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to understand and use myimprovement, I will now fully describe the process of coloring andgilding of inlaying pearls, &c.,and of polishing the surface of earthenor baked wares. v

The earthenware, when in the biscuit state, is to be first fully dried,and the coloring-matter which is to form the body of the surface ismixed with fine copal varnish and applied over the surface of the ware.The ware is then placed for the space of twelve hours in an oven ordrying-room heated only to about 180 or 200. It is next removed andanother layer of the same mixture is applied and dried in the samevmanner,in like manner a thinand fourth layer,

and sometimes more The coloring-matter to form the surface may be variedaccording to the taste of the artist, and may be either animal,vegetable, or mineral color. A good black surface is obtained from sixmeasures of varnish, mixed with ivory or lamp-black, and one oflinseed-oil. For buff, rose, pink, or any of the light delicate colors,the oil of nut-poppy is preferable. Linseed or any of the colored oilsdamages, the light delicate colors by absorption. After the body of thesurface is obtained in the manner above described the surface is rubbeddown with rotten-stone and water until it becomes perfectly smooth, andis then polished with the hand or fine leather. Any ornamental sketch,figure, or flower may be then drawn on this surface with the brush inordinary oil-colors mixed with varnish and ground together untilperfectly smooth. Gilding or silvering may be done on this surface bypenciling with varnish the places where the gold or silver is to beplaced, which metals are then applied in the leaf state and dried in thedrying oven or room, as above described.

The second part of my improvement consists in attaching pearls, shells,gems, or the like to the external surface of baked ware, either forornamenting vessels in combination with the above process of coloring orfor making an ornamental material out of such Wares to be used as asubstitute for papier-mach, wood, and iron in making fancy articles, asdesk and table tops, trays, 820. Over these substances it possesses theadvantage of not being injuriously affected by variations in thetemperature and moisture of the atmosphere. The pearls or othermaterials to be inlaid on the ware are affixed to the ware while in thepure biscuit slate and previously to applying the body or coloredsurface. I have discovered that the best material for affixing pearls orthese other substances isa cement composed of oxide of zinc mixed withfat-oil until it is quite thick and then ground fine. This cement may betinted of any desired hue, and will then give to the translucent pearl adelicate tint of a similar hue. The cement is to be applied by a brushboth to the inner surface of the pearl and the outer surface of theware. Other cements or varnishes may be employed to affix the pearl; butthat, I think, will be found to be the best. After the pearl or otherornamental object is thus fixed the surface of the ware is to receivethe successive layers of colorin g material and varnish, as describedabove, to form the body of the surface of the ware, and until thissurface is of a uniform thickness with that of thepearl. varnish on theface of the pearlis then scraped off and the whole surface rubbed downand polished with rotten-stone.

When I wish to make ornamental trays, table-tops, or the like, theearthenware is to be molded or turned of the required form and size, andthen treated in the manner above described for ornamentin g vessels.

Although I apply my process to the earthenware-s while in the biscuitstate, yet it may be equally well applied to glazed ware 5 but as theglazing would be superfluous-it would generally be omitted.

I do not intend herein to'claim the general application of oil-paintin gto china or earthenware; but

What I do claim as myinvention, and de sire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- 1. The application of coloring-matter mixed with varnish or itsequivalent to the surface of baked earthenware for the purpose of givingto such ware a surface of sufficient body and of sufficient brilliancyfor ornamental purposes, thus obviating the necessity of the glazingprocess, substantially as herein described.

2. The inlaying of pearls, gems, &c., on china and baked earthenware forornamental purposes, substantially as hereinabove dc scribed.

3. The peculiar cement and process by which I afix pearls and gems tothe china or baked earthen ware. v

RALPH B. BEECH. Witnesses:

J. BURUHARD, Gno. HARDING.

Any superfluous I

